


Swapped

by Bajillian



Category: One Piece
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Canon Universe, Dimension Swap, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Original Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Time Skip, non-canonical devil fruit, some acesan and frobin, yes it's both universes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-23
Updated: 2020-12-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 14:21:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,888
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26070331
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bajillian/pseuds/Bajillian
Summary: Luffy and his crew make it back to Sabaody after their two-year break, and the government catches wind of it. Their attempt at capturing Luffy by swapping him into their custody ends in a rather odd mix-up.
Relationships: Monkey D. Luffy & Mugiwara Kaizoku | Strawhat Pirates, Monkey D. Luffy & Portgas D. Ace
Comments: 82
Kudos: 85





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Timeline-wise, this fic happens post-timeskip. Probably around the Return to Sabaody arc, but only loosely follows the plot, so some details may differ. That being said, this fic does include a hefty spoiler for Marineford.

Luffy landed on the unfamiliar floor with a thud. He didn’t react much, since he’d been knocked unconscious as soon as he was hit, but it wasn’t too long before he woke up. He let out a groan and lifted the straw hat that was covering his vision. He was in… a bedroom?

Not his bedroom. Not one of his _crewmates’_ bedrooms. But a bedroom.

There was, of course, a bed with a pirate-themed comforter - in fact, the whole room had a pirate theme going on. The walls lined with posters and shelves that held traditional pirate knick-knacks. The pirate map rug thankfully caught Luffy’s fall, protecting him from the hardwood floor. 

With some effort, he sat up a bit when a treasure chest caught his eye. Unfortunately, it was fake and only held clothes. What kind of crappy treasure was that?? Though, from the looks of it, it seemed whoever the owner was had the same style as him. 

Luffy looked around some more. Mixed in with all the pirate gear - seriously, what was this person’s deal with pirates - was the occasional dirty plate or empty bottle. He perked up a bit when he saw a bag labeled beef jerky. _Meat._ Without hesitation, he reached for the bag, broke the seal, and scarfed down the entire thing. It wasn’t anywhere near Sanji’s cooking, but it was something.

He hopped up onto his feet, feeling much better now that he could eat even a tiny bit of food, and started to explore the space some more. There were some… devices he didn’t recognize. Stuff he’d imagine Franky would build. Still, he didn’t touch anything, as curious as he was. For all he knew, this could be a trap.

It all happened so quickly. The marines had started attacking, specifically one claiming to have eaten the swap-swap fruit. The last thing he remembered before blacking out was throwing a powerful punch. Now he was here.

Was it a dream? Or maybe some kind of illusion world?

He walked over to the door and opened it a crack. There was a long hallway and stairs that led down to the lower floor. If this was a house, maybe there would be a kitchen. And if there was a kitchen, then he could find more food. Hopefully.

Carefully, he opened the door some more, and when he felt it was safe enough, he stepped out into the hallway. As he walked, he could see more rooms. One that was closed, a bathroom, and another bedroom. This one was less pirate-y. It also had dirty dishes like the last one, but there wasn’t much of a theme to it. Luffy decided not to explore the space, since his top priority was finding a kitchen.

He found one as soon as he made it to the bottom of the stairs. There was a living room, but that could wait. He made a beeline to the fridge, and was relieved to find that it was _packed,_ as if it had just been restocked recently. Anything he couldn’t immediately fit in his mouth, he carried with his arms to the table. At least, if this was an illusion, he had food to keep himself busy.

* * *

“Come on! We gotta get out of here!”

“Hurry up before that bastard tries to swap the rest of us!”

“Careful with Luffy, Franky! He’s still unconscious!”

“I’m bein’ careful! Just get back to the Sunny!”

The frantic members of the Straw Hats hurried back to the ship with an unconscious Luffy in Franky’s arms. They’d just managed to slip out of a fight and didn’t want to risk any of the others getting hurt. Once they made it back, they took off and surrounded Luffy, who had been carefully placed on the deck. Surprisingly, he didn’t look too badly hurt, but he was missing his signature hat.

“What good use is a swap-swap fruit if he couldn’t even swap more than Luffy’s hat?”

“What’d he even swap it with, anyway?”

“Forget that! We need to get Luffy to my infirmary so I can make sure he’s okay!”

“I got ‘em. Lead the way.”

It was a while after the room cleared out and Luffy was examined before he’d woken up in what looked like some sort of… doctor’s office? He was on a medical bed, he knew that much. His gaze shifted to his right where there was a desk, but he couldn’t really make out who was sitting in the chair, since his vision was still taking its time to focus. They were small, it looked like, and wearing a blue hat.

Luffy groaned. Someone must’ve found him on his bedroom floor after jumping on his bed, despite being told plenty of times not to do it. Even then, this wasn’t like any kind of doctor’s office he’d seen before. The walls and floors were clearly wooden, opposed to the usual pristine white surfaces in the hospitals. The room was also rocking a bit. It was subtle, but perhaps it was because he had just woken up from being injured.

Or maybe he hadn’t injured himself? A quick glance down at his body made him realize there were no bandages. Maybe he was just being checked out and miraculously didn’t break an arm this time.

He looked back over to who he assumed was the doctor sitting in the chair.

“Hello…?” he tried, and cleared his throat when his voice came out weak. “Where am I?”

The chair turned around to reveal… a raccoon? A baby raccoon? Either way, they were walking towards him on two legs and hopped up onto a step stool beside the bed. _What was going on?_

“Oh! Luffy, it’s good to see you’re awake!” the doctor said with a smile, which made Luffy yell in fear.

“What the hell, the raccoon is talking?!”

_“I’m not a raccoon, I’m a reindeer, you asshole!”_

This didn’t help at all, as it only made Luffy yell louder and alert the other inhabitants in what Luffy thought was the hospital. The door opened, and there were suddenly multiple people staring at him.

“What’s with all the yelling?” the cyborg asked. “The kid just woke up, and you’re already callin’ him an asshole?”

“He called me a raccoon!” the talking reindeer retorted.

“Thank goodness you’re alive! You nearly scared me to death!” the skeleton said. “...Though, I suppose I already am dead! Yohohoho!” Despite being friendly, he’d only succeeded in making Luffy yell more.

“Luffy, will you stop yelling??” another voice said, and a blonde man with curly eyebrows stepped forward. 

Luffy did stop yelling, but he stared in surprise. “Sanji?? What are you doing here? Who are these other people? Where are we? What happened to your eyebrows?!”

It was Sanji’s turn to yell. “MY EYEBROWS HAVE ALWAYS BEEN LIKE THIS, IDIOT.” He took a puff of his cigarette to try to calm down. “What kind of questions are those, anyway? I’m your crew’s cook, here on the Thousand Sunny. It’s only been two years. Don’t you remember us?”

Luffy blinked, and the confused expression on his face just made the others worry more.

“...Luffy?”

“I…” Luffy shook his head. “This is all… wrong. I know some of you. But you’re not… the same.”

“Of course we’re not the same,” Sanji said. “We all spent the time apart getting stronger.”

“Who do you know?” a woman’s voice chimed in. He seemed to be suffering from minor memory loss unrelated to the two-year break. If they could figure out what he did remember, then they could work from there.

Luffy hummed. “I know you, Robin. You’re Franky’s wife.” Robin raised her eyebrows, and Franky just blushed. 

“That’s a bold claim to make there, kiddo,” Franky said with an awkward chuckle, averting his gaze. He was crushing on Robin, sure, but she didn’t know that yet. None of them knew. Was it really that obvious? 

“It’s true!”

“Who else do you know?” Robin asked, trying to change the subject for now. Her own cheeks were a little pink. “Besides me, Franky, and Sanji.”

Luffy looked around, and his expression suddenly lit up. “Nami! Usopp!” he said. “You guys are here, too?”

Nami and Usopp looked at each other before offering Luffy a smile. “Of course we’re here. We’re your friends, remember?” Nami said.

Luffy let out a laugh, and pointed to Usopp. “I do remember! But why’s your nose look like that?” he asked. 

Usopp covered his nose. “Wh- Just because your memory got messed up, doesn’t mean you can just insult us!”

Luffy’s laughing stopped, and his smile faded. “What…? You guys think I lost my memory?” he asked. “I thought someone brought me here to this weird hospital, but it’s really starting to sound more like a dream with how you’re all talking!”

“Forget that, you know that idiot cook’s name, but not mine?” a green-haired man asked. He had his arms crossed and looked down at Luffy. “What am I, chopped liver?”

“I’d rather deal with chopped liver than this stupid moss head,” Sanji muttered under his breath before the two butted heads and got ready to fight.

Luffy tilted his head. The guy looked familiar, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it. Where had he seen him before? “...Oh, hey! I know you! You work at Franky’s car shop down the road,” he said. “Zoro, right? I’ve seen you a few times when I went to visit Ace at work!”

Silence fell upon the room. The whole crew stared at Luffy with shocked expressions. A couple exchanged glances, but otherwise weren’t sure what else to do. It was a good few moments before anyone spoke up again.

“You said… Ace?” Sanji asked, standing up straight again and fixing his tie.

Luffy furrowed his brows. “Um… yes.”

“As in… your brother?”

“Yes! Why are you all looking at me like that?” Luffy’s body tensed. “Where’s Ace?”

* * *

Straw Hat Luffy had eaten to his heart’s (and stomach’s) content. He was prepared to take on the world. To start, he got up and made his way to the living room. It wasn’t too fancy, it had what some living rooms typically had: a couch, a couple small tables, a TV, and the like. Along with the walls, the tables had various items on them, some of which were picture frames.

Luffy walked over and picked one up. The sight alone made his stomach drop.

In the picture was Luffy, along with two other faces he knew pretty well positioned on either side of him. They all had proud smiles. What bothered Luffy was that he didn’t remember taking this at all. Wherever they’d taken the picture was unfamiliar. But what bothered Luffy even _more_ was who was in the picture: to his left was Sanji, which seemed typical, and to his right was…

The handle to the front door jiggled a bit before it opened. Luffy’s gaze followed from the handle to the shopping bag in the person’s hand, up his tattooed arm, all the way to the freckled face that was smiling brightly at him. The smile faded a bit when he saw the shocked expression Luffy had.

“...Luf? Everything okay?” the man asked as he shut the door and took a careful step closer. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Luffy stepped back and stared some more, his body trembling. Apparently, the food could prepare him for anything except this. In fact, he could feel it coming back up. He managed to keep it down, though, and stuttered a bit before he finally got out the single thought he had.

“Ace?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve had this idea for a while, so I’m excited to finally start posting it! Let me know what you think! I’ll be posting occasional updates on my [writing blog](https://bajillianwrites.tumblr.com/) about the process for this fic and other future works!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Both Ace and modern-day Luffy are caught up on the situation, things get a little emotional, and pirate Robin suggests a possible explanation.

The picture frame fell from Luffy’s hands, and he took a step back, nearly tripping over the coffee table. He managed to catch himself, but the look on his face said that he wasn’t all there.

“Woah, woah, hey,” Ace said, keeping his voice soft. He set the bag down and studied Luffy carefully to make sure he hadn’t gotten hurt. “I’m gonna clean up this glass, okay? And then we can talk about what’s on your mind.” Just as Ace started to make his way to the kitchen to get a bag and a broom, Luffy spoke up again.

“You’re… y-you’re alive?”

Ace froze in place, then turned his head to face his little brother with an eyebrow raised. Maybe the glass mess could wait. “Of course I’m alive,” he said. “I was only gone, like, an hour. Did you think I died or somethin’?” Normally, he would’ve let out a light-hearted chuckle, but it seemed that Luffy had really been affected by Ace’s absence.

Luffy’s breathing was shaky and uneven, and his face was looking pale. It took a good moment for him to shake his head in response. “No, I… I _know_ you died. Back at… back at Marineford. I watched you, I…” His lips quivered and tears started to stream down his face before he managed to sob out, “I _h-held you.”_

Ace furrowed his brows. It broke his heart to see Luffy in a state like this, but he was also really confused. Nothing Luffy was saying made sense, and he could only think of one explanation for it. “I think you had a bad dream,” he suggested, and took a cautious step closer. “Here, do you wanna sit down?”

Luffy nodded as he continued to cry, and followed Ace to the couch, mindful of the broken glass when Ace mumbled a “Careful.” Once they were both seated, Ace draped an arm over Luffy’s shoulders, to which Luffy responded by wrapping his arms around Ace in return. Clinging onto him with everything he had. Like he was afraid of losing his brother. 

“I don’t… get it,” Luffy managed, his words muffled while his face was buried against Ace’s chest. “I was f-fighting this weird guy while trying to get back with my crew, and… a-and the last thing I remember, we both threw a fist at each other, and--” He gasped and pulled back from Ace, that wide-eyed stare once again returning. “Did I die, too?? Is this the afterlife? That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?!”

Ace was still a mix of concerned and confused. “This isn’t the afterlife, Luf, this is… normal life. I don’t know what the hell you’re goin’ on about, but all I did was go to the store to run some errands, and I’m back. I’m tellin’ you, you must’ve had a bad dream.”

Luffy shook his head. How could Ace not remember? Especially after the hell he’d been through. After his final words, his final request. Did everyone in the afterlife forget how they died? After all, even he wasn’t sure about his own details, if he _had_ died. “I didn’t have a bad dream. It was _real,_ and I know I lived through it. I’m sure of it.” He sniffled and wiped the tears from his cheek with his shirt. “ _This_ feels like a bad dream. My emotions are being played with, that guy must’ve swapped me into… into another dimension or something.”

“What guy are you talking about?” Ace asked.

“I don’t even know his name! He just started coming at us,” Luffy explained. “Said something about using his swap-swap powers to swap me somewhere else. I didn’t know it was going to be in a place with _you.”_

Ace raised his eyebrows. He wasn’t sure if he should be offended or not. “And are you… mad about being here with me?” he asked, deciding to indulge in this… odd scenario. He still didn’t believe anything Luffy was saying, but maybe if they talked it out more, things would become clearer. Sometimes, Luffy took his pirate make-believe a little too far.

Luffy thought about that, and his posture slumped. “No,” he said. “Why would I be mad about getting to see my big brother again?”

Ace managed a little smile. “Well, that’s good to hear.”

Luffy nodded and was quiet again. Thinking some more. Slowly, and with a little hesitation, he went back to holding onto Ace. His words were muffled again, but it was clear enough when he said, “I missed you.”

Ace held Luffy in a secure hug, and was a little surprised at his words. This sounded way too real to just be Luffy’s imagination. If it was real, somehow, how would he have responded?

“I missed you, too.”

* * *

Luffy’s eyes darted around at everyone else staring at him. No one had the heart to remind him about the events that happened not too long ago. Luffy balled his hands into fists and sat up, which made the others flinch.

“I said… where is he?!” Luffy looked over to the cook. “Sanji? Tell me. Please.”

Sanji wasn’t sure why _he_ had been picked specifically. Everyone but Luffy knew that out of all the Straw Hats besides their captain, he had taken Ace’s death the worst. “You… really don’t remember?” he asked.

Luffy blinked, and some of his anger turned into confusion. “No? I don’t know what’s going on, let alone where my brother is,” he said. “The last thing I remember is being at home and waiting for him to come back to the store.” He reached forward and grabbed Sanji’s shoulders, making the man jump in surprise. “So where is he??”

Sanji gulped. He glanced around the room before looking back at the frantic boy. It hurt to think about, but it was even more painful to say it out loud. “Luffy, he’s dead.”

Luffy’s jaw dropped and his hands slowly fell from Sanji’s shoulders. “...What?” he asked, his normally loud voice now barely above a whisper.

“He was killed in Marineford.”

“Marineford?” Luffy asked. “Is… What is that, a street? Did he get into a car accident?” He hopped off of the bed, a little wobbly on his feet. The little reindeer doctor and Sanji reached out to steady him. “This is a hospital, isn’t it? I have to go find him, is he here?”

Before anyone could respond, he pushed through the crowd and out onto the deck. He gasped when he realized that he was not in a hospital, but was on a ship in the middle of the ocean instead. The others followed him out, but kept a safe distance.

“Where…” Luffy took a couple more steps forward before he slowly turned around to face everyone. “What’s going on? Where are we?”

“You’re on the Thousand Sunny,” Franky said. It came out a little softer than his usual proud tone any time he’d proclaim that fact. “It’s the home of the Straw Hat pirates. Y’know… your crew?”

“My crew?”

Franky nodded. “You’re the captain, ‘member?” He pointed up to the flag, as if it’d magically bring back Luffy’s memory. 

“I… I don’t get it,” Luffy said. “I know I pretend to be a pirate all the time, but this isn’t funny! You can’t just joke about my brother being dead!”

“We’re not joking!” Franky tried, but Luffy kept going.

“And it’s extra hurtful to hear it coming from you, Sanji!” Luffy said, pointing at the man in question. “What kind of man jokes about his boyfriend dying, and to his own brother?!”

Sanji blushed and raised his eyebrows. “Boyfriend?”

“If I may interrupt,” Robin began as she moved to the front of the crowd, “I think I have a guess as to what’s happening here.”

“Do tell us, Robin dear!” Sanji replied, a little relieved Luffy’s wild relationship claims were being stopped again.

“I don’t think it was Luffy’s hat that was swapped,” Robin said.

“What do you mean?” Zoro asked. “His hat went missing as soon as that bastard used his devil fruit powers. What else could’ve been swapped?”

“Luffy,” Robin said.

“Luffy?!” the rest of the crew replied.

Robin nodded. “What if it’s not memory loss? What if there’s another… I don’t know, _version_ of Luffy?”

“What, like, from another world?” Zoro asked.

“It’s possible. Just like the rest of us, Luffy had gotten stronger. From what I saw, he’d punched the swap-swap user really hard. It must’ve thrown him off and messed something up.” Robin looked back at Luffy, and offered a gentle smile. The boy himself was shaking like a leaf and staring at everyone else, trying to process it all. “You’re a long way from home, if my assumption is correct. None of this is familiar?”

Luffy shook his head.

“That doesn’t explain anything!” Usopp interjected. “Of course none of this is going to be familiar to him if he lost part of his memory! Our captain doesn’t remember who he is, and we’re all doomed!”

Nami placed a gentle hand on Usopp’s back in an attempt to calm him down. “What if Luffy tried using his devil fruit powers?” she suggested. “Even if he doesn’t remember how to use them, our Luffy would still be stretchy, right?”

“That’s a good point,” Robin said with a nod. “We could try that.”

“Devil fruit powers?” Luffy asked.

The others exchanged a glance. It seemed they had a lot more explaining to do.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Straw Hats test modern Luffy to see if he's from the right universe, while Ace learns more about Straw Hat Luffy's world.

Luffy looked around at the others, waiting for someone to explain. But when he didn’t get an answer, he decided to ask again. “What are devil fruit powers?”

It was Robin who decided to explain. “They’re… well, powers you get from eating a devil fruit,” she said with a soft chuckle. “Each fruit grants a different power. For example, you ate the gum-gum fruit, which allows you to have the same properties as rubber.”

Luffy gasped and his confusion turned into excitement. “Woah! That’s awesome!” he said. “How do I use it?”

Robin seemed relieved that Luffy was excited instead of horrified, but then again, this was Luffy. She had nothing to worry about. “It’s really not that difficult, but I must warn you to be careful. You could hurt yourself if you don’t know how to use it properly,” she said.

“I’ll be fine!” Luffy said. “What do I do?”

“We can start with your gum-gum pistol. It’s just a basic punch, enhanced by your gum-gum powers,” Robin explained. “What you want to do is reel your arm back and then throw a punch. If you have your powers, your arm should stretch.” She stepped aside, and ushered the others to do the same. “Just don’t launch yourself into the water. Devil fruit users can’t swim.”

Luffy raised an eyebrow at that last comment, but he was too excited to try the gum-gum pistol to ask about it. He followed the instructions Robin gave him: he reeled his arm back and threw a punch. His arm did not stretch.

The rest of the crew, minus Robin, yelled in surprise. It was clear that this was not their Luffy, and now they had a big problem on their hands. Luffy looked disappointed.

“Aw man, this sucks,” Luffy said. “I thought my arm was gonna stretch! It would’ve been so cool!”

“That settles it, then,” Franky said. “Luffy was swapped.”

“You guys keep saying that, but what does that mean?” Luffy asked. “How was I swapped?”

Franky sighed. “We weren’t even doin’ anything, just mindin’ our own business and tryin’ to gather the crew back up when we heard a ruckus over where you were,” he said. “You, Sanji, and Zoro managed to take down both Pacifistas. That just left the normal human marines, which that swap-swap devil fruit guy was part of. It must’ve rocked the government’s world when they saw you were still kickin’ after all this time. After that stunt you pulled, you’re more of a wanted man than before.”

“Wanted?!”

“You’re a pirate, kid. Get used to it,” Franky said. “Anyway, he went on about how he was gonna swap you into a secure government area. We thought he just swapped your hat, but it seems he did way more than that.”

“What the hell? The nerve of that guy! I wanna beat him up!” Luffy said, raring to go. “Where is he?”

Usopp threw his hands in the air. “We can’t just fight that guy while you’re like this! If the devil fruit user version of you was no match for him, then what makes you think you can take him on without experience?!”

“Usopp is right,” Brook interjected. “None of us are prepared to fight him just yet. Sure, we’ve worked on ourselves, but we’re a little rusty as a team. If he swapped you, he could swap any of us. And going by the fact that you didn’t know who a couple of us were, then who knows what we’d be swapped with? Just the thought alone makes my skin crawl.” He paused. “...That is, if I _had_ any skin! Yohohoho!”

Luffy huffed. “Fine. But when we _are_ ready, I’m totally gonna kick his ass and get back to Ace!”

“Oh yeah, our Luffy’s in your… world, right?” Sanji said. “Do you think he’ll see Ace right away?”

Luffy nodded. “We live together. Ace had just gone out to the store, but he was probably on his way back by the time I got swapped,” he said. 

Sanji hummed. “I wonder how he’s gonna take that. Ace’s death didn’t happen that long ago. I mean, it’s been a couple years, but that’s… a pretty short time for something like this, I’d say.”

Despite looking uncomfortable with the constant mentions of his brother’s death, Luffy was curious about a particular detail. “You guys keep mentioning that it’s been two years,” he said. “And how we were… apart for that long. Why?”

“Originally, we were supposed to meet back up in three days,” Sanji began, and continued by catching Luffy up on what had happened when they had first arrived at Sabaody.

* * *

It was a while of silence between Ace and Luffy before the latter pulled back a little and rubbed his eyes. He’d calmed down somewhat, at least, but he still looked lost. It was strange seeing Luffy like this. Normally, he was obnoxiously energetic and positive, but it was as if whatever he was thinking about was draining it all out of him. Ace figured he should do something other than just watch his brother be sad.

“This, uh… this crew of yours,” Ace began. “You wanna tell me about them? I bet they’re real cool.”

Luffy sniffled and gave a little nod. “Well, I’m the captain.”

“Of course. Wouldn’t expect anythin’ less from my kid brother.”

That was enough to get a little smile out of Luffy. “There’s nine of us total. After me, it’s Zoro, Usopp, Nami, Sanji, Chopper, Robin, Franky, and Brook.” He continued on to ramble about each person’s positions and a general description of what they looked like. Ace was surprised to hear that most of the people he named correlated with the actual people they knew.

“We’re called the Straw Hats, named after this hat that Shanks gave me!” Luffy said.

Ace looked down at the hat with raised eyebrows. He had been curious as to where Luffy had gotten that, but his thoughts were interrupted when he had to deal with more important matters. “That was nice of him,” he said. “Where do I fit into this? What, does your big brother not get to be part of your crew?” He chuckled.

“I told you,” Luffy said, the frown returning to his face. “You were killed!”

“I don’t like that, Luffy,” Ace said. “It’s a pretty crummy thing to kill off your own brother.”

“I didn’t kill you, it was Akainu!” Luffy said. “I’m telling the truth! If I had a transponder snail, I could contact my crew and they’d back me up on that. It was in the newspaper, they know I was there. I promise I tried to save you.” He opened his mouth again to explain, but he was so afraid of falling back into that pit, so he stayed quiet. All of that training to get stronger would go to waste, even if he did still have his friends.

Ace wasn’t sure how to respond to that. Luffy was never the type to joke about that kind of thing, but he really didn’t have any other reasonable explanation for it. Maybe he could get another opinion, and he knew someone who he could trust. “How about this, since Sanji’s part of your crew, why don’t I invite him over?” he suggested. “We can all talk about it.”

“He’s not _my_ pirate Sanji, though!”

“I’m sure he’ll bring some food over.”

Luffy perked up at that. Sure, he’d eaten just moments before, but he was never one to pass up on Sanji’s cooking. “Okay, deal!”

Ace chuckled. Even if this was some kind of alternate Luffy, food seemed to be a constant winner in his heart. He dialed Sanji’s number and waited for the cook to answer.

“Hello, dear!” he answered.

“Hey, are you busy?” Ace asked. “I need your help with somethin’.”

“Anything for you, darling. What would you like me to wear?” Sanji purred.

Ace was glad that Luffy couldn’t hear the other end, and also didn’t notice the blush forming on his cheeks. “The somethin’ is Luffy.”

“Oh! Oh.” Sanji let out an embarrassed giggle. “I’ll be right over. I just finished cooking, too, so I can bring something to help.”

“You’re the best. See you soon.” Ace hung up and rested back against the couch. He furrowed his brows when he saw Luffy’s confused expression. “What?”

“What _is_ that thing?” Luffy asked, pointing to Ace’s cellphone. “It works like a transponder snail, but it’s… rectangular.”

Ace blinked. “It’s… Luf, you have one,” he said. 

“What! I don’t have one of those!” Luffy protested.

Ace sighed. Right. “It’s a cellphone,” he said. “It lets you communicate with other people, as long as you have their phone number.”

Luffy hummed. “It works like a transponder snail, too!”

“Oh, it does, huh?” Ace asked with a chuckle. Whatever it took to keep Luffy’s mind off of his apparent death. “That’s really cool. The snails here are kinda just… snails. Nothin’ too fancy.”

“That’s okay! You’ve got those really cool things!” Luffy said, pointing to Ace’s phone again. “I bet Franky would love to see this!”

Ace decided not to remind Luffy that Franky has seen a cell phone before and, in fact, owns one. Instead, he asked more questions. “Yeah? Why’s that?” he asked. 

“I mean, he’s a cyborg and all, and he likes building stuff!” Luffy said, and then gasped. “Is… Is Franky still a cyborg in this world?”

Ace shook his head. “Nah, he’s… well. Actually, kinda. It might depend on your definition of a cyborg,” he said. “He’s got a bionic arm.”

Luffy gasped. “Wooooah! So what does he do in this… weird universe? What’s he like?” 

“He owns the car shop I work at. It’s called Franky’s,” Ace said. “He’s real chill and gives good advice. Oh, and he absolutely loves his wife. It’s, like, the first thing you learn about him when you first meet him.”

“Franky’s married?”

Ace nodded. “His wife’s name is Robin. She’s nice. I’ve only met her a couple times.”

Luffy blinked, and then started laughing. “That’s so funny! My Franky sometimes gets all flustered around my Robin! I wonder if he likes her!”

Ace chuckled. “Maybe he does,” he said. “Y’know, I’m excited for you to meet my Sanji.” It felt weird to say. He still wasn’t fully convinced of the whole swapping situation. “I wonder how different he is to yours.”

“I’m excited to try his food!” Luffy said, patting his stomach. “It’s been two years since I’ve had his cooking!”

Ace raised an eyebrow. “Two years? Isn’t he part of your crew?”

Luffy nodded. “We got separated. When I got swapped, that was our first time seeing each other again. I barely got to say hi to them.”

“Sounds like a bad way to have a reunion.”

“I didn’t even do anything wrong!” Luffy said. “All I knew was that the government was trying to capture me. Probably ‘cause I kicked ass at Impel Down and Marineford.”

Ace let out a little laugh, shaking his head. “That was rude of them.”

“Yeah, and I’m totally gonna kick their ass once I get back!” Luffy wasn’t sure when or how that was going to happen, but he didn’t mind spending some more time with Ace for the time being.

“Speakin’ of being rude, I think I should clean up this glass before Sanji gets here,” Ace said. “It seems like good manners to do, and I don’t think he’d appreciate being stabbed.”

“Oh yeah, sorry about that,” Luffy said.

Ace waved his hand and stood. He also grabbed the bag he had set down earlier. “Don’t worry about it. Do me a favor, answer the door when Sanji comes. I’ll be right back.” He gave Luffy a pat on his head before leaving the room.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Updates may be sporadic, since my internet’s been kind of funky lately, but here’s a bit of a longer chapter to make up for it! 
> 
> You can follow me for updates on things I’m working on [@bajillianwrites](https://bajillianwrites.tumblr.com/) on Tumblr! And as always, comments are appreciated, so let me know what you think!

Ace had finished cleaning up the glass and was putting away the items he had bought when the doorbell rang, followed by a knock.

“I got it!” Luffy called to Ace as he hopped up to answer the door. He smiled brightly at the sight of the familiar chef. “Sanji!”

Sanji smiled back and stepped inside. He was holding a fancy meat-based dish, which he walked to the kitchen with. Luffy closed the door and practically sprinted over to meet Sanji.

“How’ve you been?” Sanji asked as he placed the food on the table and turned to face Luffy. 

“So much has happened! I gotta say, it’s been weird!” Luffy said, eyeing the food. 

Sanji nodded and motioned for Luffy to dig in, which he did immediately. “Oh yeah, that’s why Ace called me over,” he said with a chuckle. “Speaking of which, where is he?”

“I’m here, buttercup,” Ace said as he strolled into the kitchen with a smile. He gave Sanji a peck on the lips before digging into the food as well. “I hope it was a smooth drive over.”

“Yeah, it wasn’t too bad. There was barely any traffic,” Sanji said. “But that wouldn’t stop me from helping you out with Luffy.”

The two looked over at the boy in question, who had stopped eating mid-chew. He was… staring back at them, a curious expression on his face.

“Somethin’ wrong, Luf?” Ace asked. “I mean, besides the whole reason I asked Sanji to come here.”

Luffy finished the food he had in his mouth. “You kissed him.”

Sanji raised his eyebrows. “You’ve never had a problem with it before.”

Luffy shook his head. “It’s not a problem,” he said. “Are you two… together? In this universe?”

Before Sanji could respond, Ace interjected. “Lemme explain to Sanji what’s goin’ on first, and then we can answer your questions. Sound good?”

Luffy nodded, and then continued to eat. Ace took a deep breath and motioned for Sanji to sit down.

“So, uh… Luffy’s not… This Luffy…” Ace shook his head. “The Luffy you see is not the Luffy from our universe,” he said, giving in to this weird scenario. “I didn’t believe it at first, but it doesn’t seem like somethin’ Luffy would make up.”

Sanji glanced over at Luffy and then looked at Ace again. He blinked. Took a moment to process that. Opened and closed his mouth a few times before settling with, “Huh.” He crossed his arms. “Okay, but… he knew who I was the second I opened the door.”

“Of course I know who you are!” Luffy said, his mouth still full. “Back in my universe, you’re my ship’s cook! The only difference, really, is that you’re missing your curly eyebrows!”

Ace snorted with this information, and his serious tone turned into one of amusement. “Wait, wait, wait. You’re tellin’ me Sanji’s got curly eyebrows where you’re from?” Luffy nodded, and it made Ace laugh at the image he formed in his mind.

Sanji was too confused to really get offended. He was still trying to understand how any of this would be possible. “How did you even get the wrong Luffy in the first place?” he asked. “And why wasn’t he aware of our relationship? Is that not a thing where he’s from?”

Ace’s laughing stopped abruptly, and his smile faded. “Right. Um.” He turned to his brother. “Luffy, do you wanna explain it to him? I’m still a bit confused myself about the whole… part involvin’ me. Maybe you could start a little earlier in the story.”

Luffy nodded. “Me and my pirate crew were at a place called Sabaody, but got separated when Kuma sent us all to different places,” he began. The other two listened intently. “While I was at Amazon Lily, I found out that Ace was at this big prison called Impel Down. He was…” He sighed and took a second before he continued. “He was about to be executed at Marineford.”

“Executed?!” Sanji said, normal-shaped eyebrows raised. “For what?”

“His father was Gol D. Roger, the King of the Pirates. In my opinion, he was awesome! But the government doesn’t like us pirates that much,” Luffy said. “Anyway, I was too late at Impel Down, so me and my friends traveled over to Marineford to try to stop the execution.” He frowned and averted his gaze.

“Did you stop it?” Sanji asked softly. He was pretty invested in this story for someone who still didn’t fully believe it was real.

Luffy hesitated before shaking his head. “We were so close to escaping. I’d freed Ace, and we were on our way back to the ship when Akainu said some crap about Whitebeard, Ace’s captain. Ace just couldn’t let it go, so he turned around to fight.”

Sanji hummed. “That does sound like stubborn Ace.” This earned a gentle slap on the arm from the stubborn man himself.

Luffy sighed and wrapped his arms around himself. “The next thing I knew, Akainu was coming for me when I wasn’t looking,” he said. “Ace… A-Ace, he…” He sniffled, and the tears were back. Still, he tried to stay relatively composed. “He jumped in front of me and took Akainu’s punch.”

“I don’t understand,” Ace said. “Is that what killed me-- uh, him? A punch?”

Luffy squeezed his eyes shut, but they immediately shot back open. Reliving the flashbacks was never fun. The only thing keeping him from completely breaking down was the fact that a version of Ace was with him. “Akainu ate the mag-mag fruit, which gave him the power to turn his body into magma,” he explained. “So he punched a burning hole through Ace’s back and chest.”

Ace and Sanji were quiet, then. After a short moment, Sanji was the one to speak.

“I’m so sorry,” he said. “That must’ve been… horrifying.”

Luffy nodded. “I held Ace until his last breath,” he said. “I don’t remember a lot that came after that and before I was back at Amazon Lily because I was told that I… shut down.”

“That’s understandable.” Sanji glanced between Ace and Luffy. “Are you… That’s definitely a pretty traumatizing thing to go through. But are you doing okay?”

Luffy nodded again. “I spent two years being trained by Rayleigh so I could get stronger. I want to protect my friends and help them achieve their dreams like they do for me,” he said. “I don’t want to let anything like that happen again.”

“Y’know, even if you’re not the Luffy from this universe, you’re just like him,” Ace said. “He loves his friends a whole lot, just like you, and he’d do whatever he could just to make them happy.”

That got a little smile out of Luffy. “I wish I could’ve seen my friends longer,” he said, and then looked up at Sanji. “When I got back to where me and my crew were meeting after the two years, the government found out that I was there. Long story short, a guy who ate the swap-swap fruit somehow swapped me and the Luffy that lives here. I don’t know why, he said he was gonna swap me into a government building.”

“He sounds like an idiot,” Sanji said, which made Luffy chuckle and nod in agreement. “I’m gonna be honest, this is some… wild information to take in all at once. But… I don’t know, I think I believe you.”

“Yeah, our Luffy loves to pretend to be a pirate, so I’m gonna be honest, I didn’t really think this was a real thing,” Ace admitted. “But you don’t really joke about this kinda stuff, so… I believe you, too.”

“I don’t blame you. This is new to me,” Luffy said. “But I promise I’m telling the truth.” Ace and Sanji nodded.

“So… what was up with me and Ace in your universe?” Sanji asked. “From your reaction, it didn’t seem like you knew we were together.”

“Yeah, you and Ace weren’t together, but… I don’t know, maybe you two had a crush on each other or something and no one knew,” Luffy said. “You really like ladies, though, and you make that really obvious. At least, where I’m from.”

“Oh, no,” Ace said. “He’s still very much into ladies. Any time some pretty lady walks by, he turns red and can barely speak coherently. It’s hilarious.”

Sanji’s cheeks turned pink and he huffed. “I can’t help it!” he said. “I just really love women, and I’m weak to them.”

Ace laughed. “Hey, I love women, too. But I guess you’re just more adorable when it comes to expressin’ your emotions.” He kissed Sanji’s cheek, which made Sanji roll his eyes.

Luffy watched with a smile. “I’m… happy that you two have each other,” he said. “It’s cute! Ace deserves to feel loved.”

Ace and Sanji smiled. “Did I not feel loved in your universe?” Ace asked, mostly as a joke.

Luffy shrugged and offered him a sad smile. He could remember Ace’s last words perfectly. He tried not to think about it too much, but they’d occasionally play in his mind. _Thank you… for loving me._ “I think you knew in the end,” he said. “...But just in case. I love you.”

Ace nodded and pulled Luffy into a hug, holding him tightly. Half of the reason he did it was so Luffy wouldn’t see the tears welling up in his eyes. “I love you, too, Luf. Thank you for doing what you did in your universe.”

Luffy nodded as well. “Thank you for being my big brother.”

* * *

Back in the pirate world, Sanji had finished explaining the situation to Luffy, who looked more serious now. 

“I never realized how much there is to being a pirate,” Luffy said. “I just thought it was about fun and adventure! I didn’t even think about good people getting hurt, or… _killed.”_

“It’s totally about the fun and adventure!” Franky chimed in. “Sure, there’s danger that comes with it, but we’ve all got a common goal: to achieve our dreams! So it’s worth it! What better way to spend the journey than with a bunch of your friends?”

Luffy smiled. “That does sound cool!” he said. “And we must be the best if we’ve got all these people trying to stop us, right?”

“Hell yeah, we’re the best!” Franky said with a thumbs up. “You’re gonna be King of the Pirates, y’know. That’s your dream, and we’re helpin’ you get there no matter what it takes!”

Luffy gasped excitedly. “Woah, king?? That sounds awesome! I wish I could see that happen!” He was bouncing up and down. “You guys must be tough, then! I wouldn’t expect any less of my crew!”

“I’d say we’re pretty tough, yeah,” Franky said.

“The toughest,” Zoro added.

“I’m the most tough member, though!” Usopp said, which earned him a little nudge from Nami.

Luffy let out a laugh. “So do you all have cool powers, too?” he asked. “I wanna see! Lemme see!”

“Some of us have powers,” Sanji said. “Some of us don’t. I think it’d be pretty stupid to have an entire pirate crew full of people who can’t swim.”

Luffy nodded. Right, there was something about not being able to swim. “Who has powers?”

“Chopper, Brook, and Robin-dear are the ones with powers,” Sanji said. “The rest of us fight without them.”

“I wanna hear all about them!” Luffy was bouncing again. “Show me!”

Brook sauntered to the front of the crowd and did a little spin. “Would you like to know why I’m a skeleton?” he asked.

Luffy nodded quickly. “Did you eat the skeleton fruit?” he asked. “Or, no! Are your skin and insides invisible?”

“Yohohoho! Not quite!” Brook wrapped an arm around Luffy’s shoulders. “You see, I died many years ago. But with the help of the revive-revive fruit, my soul found its way back to my body! So now I’m alive again! No bones about it!”

Luffy’s jaw dropped. “That was really lucky!” he said. “Can you haunt people? That’d be really fun for pranks!”

“I will say, I did learn how to use my power a bit more during those two years we were apart,” Brook said. “But that can be a fun surprise for later!”

“You should haunt Traffy!” Luffy said. “He can be really grumpy sometimes! Maybe it’ll give him a good laugh! Is he in this universe?”

“Traffy?” Sanji asked. “You mean that creepy doctor guy with the weird tattoos? What was his name, uh… Law?”

“That’s him!” Luffy said with a laugh. “It’s good to know he’s the same in both worlds! Does he have powers?”

“Wait, don’t you wanna hear about mine?” Chopper asked, walking over to Luffy. 

Luffy crouched down to be at more of an eye-level with the reindeer. “Of course I do!” he said. 

“I ate the human-human fruit!” Chopper said. “I can turn into a human form at will! Also, it’s the reason I can communicate with you guys!”

Luffy raised his eyebrows. “Can you turn into a human now?”

Chopper nodded. “I have many different forms, but I think you’d be most interested in heavy point!” He stepped back to give himself room, and he soon transformed into a larger, more human-like being. 

Luffy stood and reached out to touch Chopper’s arm, as if making sure it wasn’t just a hologram. “Woooah! You do look more human! Your fighting style must be amazing if you can change forms in a couple seconds! And you’re a doctor, too, so you must be really smart! With those combined, it’s no wonder you’re part of my crew!!”

Chopper blushed and started wiggling his arms. “So what? You don’t have to compliment me, you asshole!” he said. Despite his words, he sounded flattered. 

Luffy furrowed his brows, but looked over at Robin when he felt her tap his shoulder. 

“That’s how he reacts to compliments,” she said with a soft chuckle. “Don’t take him calling you an asshole personally.”

“Oh! Okay, I guess— what the hell??” Luffy froze when he realized that the arm that Robin had touched his shoulder with was not attached to her… but attached to _him._ “How did this get here, and how do I make it go away?!”

“That would be my doing,” Robin said, and the arm gave Luffy a pat on the head before disappearing. “I ate the flower-flower fruit. It lets me sprout body parts onto other people or objects. I guess you could say it comes in _handy_ every so often.” She let out another soft chuckle. 

“Does that mean you could grab food from the fridge without even leaving the table?” Luffy asked. His priorities were in order. 

“I suppose so,” Robin said. “You usually don’t have a problem with that, since you’d stretch your arm over. Though, I don’t think Sanji appreciates it very much.”

Sanji crossed his arms. “Yeah, it can be a real pain in the ass,” he said. “But since you don’t have your powers, you can just let me handle the food, alright?”

As if on cue, Luffy’s stomach growled. 

“Could I have food now?” Luffy asked. “I have to see if your cooking is as good as it is back home!”

Sanji hummed. “You’re probably going to be here a while, so I guess I’d have to cook for you eventually,” he said. “But it’s no problem at all. No matter which Luffy you are, you’re still my captain.”

Luffy smiled. “Alright! To the kitchen!”

“Yeah, alright,” Sanji said. He motioned for Luffy to follow him as he made his way to the doors. “Normally, I wouldn’t let you anywhere near what I’m trying to prepare, but I have to admit, I am curious about the other version of me. So I’d like to talk with you, if that’s okay.”

Luffy followed Sanji excitedly to the kitchen. “I could tell you all about him!”


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pirate Sanji learns about his other self, while modern Ace and Sanji learn about Luffy's abilities.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been showing love to this fic!! 💛 I love hearing what you have to say about it!

Sanji was quiet once they had made it inside, and he immediately went to the fridge and cabinets to gather everything he’d need to make a nice, big meal for his crew. He assumed this Luffy had the same eating habits as his captain, so he made sure to grab a lot of meat. 

Luffy hopped up on the counter, which earned a death glare from Sanji, so he hopped back down and pulled a chair over instead. “You’re just like my Sanji!” he said with a laugh. “He’s real particular about his kitchen!”

Sanji hummed and finished grabbing items before he got to work. “As any good chef should be,” he said. He was quiet, and it wasn’t as if he didn’t know what to say. There were a lot of questions floating around in his mind, so he didn’t know where to start. 

Luffy nodded. “As long as I get some delicious food, I don’t care what rules you have! I’ll respect them,” he said. “Unlike Ace. He just sits on the counter whenever he wants, but you let it slide sometimes because you love him, I guess.”

Sanji glanced up again. Ah. That was one of the questions he had in mind, but he decided it wasn’t the one he wanted to start with. It was… difficult. For various reasons. One being that he never had the chance to talk about it, and especially with what happened two years ago, he didn’t see a point in bringing it up. Why should he be the guy to bring everyone down by talking about his dumb feelings for someone he’d never have a chance with? At least… in this universe. It was almost unfair. 

“Sanji?” Luffy was looking at the chef with a concerned expression as he waved a hand to try to get his attention. “Are you there?”

Sanji blinked. “Hm? Oh. Uh… yeah,” he said. “Sorry. Just a lot on my mind.” He averted his gaze and went back to preparing the food. “So, you’re actually another Luffy, then? I bet your life’s pretty different from this one.”

“Definitely! This life is one I’d dream about, but back home is also pretty cool!” Luffy said, watching Sanji work. “Me and Ace used to live with Gramps’ friend, Dadan, and a bunch of other people. But I just live with Ace now. He works really hard to make sure we always have food and electricity, and stuff. Franky lets him take extra shifts sometimes.”

Sanji raised his eyebrows. “Damn, that must take a lot out of him.”

“Yeah, he falls asleep randomly a lot because he’s always tired,” Luffy said. “So I try to help out with chores!”

Sanji smiled. “You’re a good brother. I’m sure he appreciates it,” he said. “You said it’s just you two?”

Luffy nodded. “Yup! But you come over, like, everyday, so it’s kinda like you live with us, too.”

“Huh.” Sanji moved over to the stove, setting it up before he continued. “Do I bring you food?”

“You do!” Luffy brought his legs up to sit criss-cross-applesauce. “You’re a chef down at the local restaurant. Uh… The Baratie! Me and Ace get discounts all the time because we know you, and Ace likes to tip you in kisses!”

Sanji froze when he felt his heart flutter in his chest. All of this was such a new experience to him, but on top of that, he wasn’t used to his feelings not being out in the open. With Nami and Robin and… any lady he laid eyes upon, he was very clear in how he felt. Whether it was with words or flailing his limbs, they knew. Right now, he was keeping it to himself. Maybe it was because he was scared. Of what, he wasn’t _exactly_ sure. 

“I used to work there before I joined your crew,” he said, returning to his task. “It was a restaurant on the sea, though.”

“Ooh, that’s cool! I didn’t know you could have restaurants on the water,” Luffy said. “But I guess it wouldn’t be too difficult! I bet you guys cooked up a lot of good seafood! I prefer meat, though! But if your cooking is anything like my Sanji’s, then I’m excited either way!”

Sanji chuckled. “I’m well-aware that you like meat. That’s what I’m making for you right now, since our captain is also a big fan,” he said. Luffy sat up a bit to look, and held up two thumbs of approval. Sanji was quiet again, but spoke up soon enough. “So, what, do I just come over all the time to bring you two food?” He knew the answer was more complicated than that, but he figured he’d let Luffy deal with those details.

“Nah, we don’t just use you for food!” Luffy said with a laugh. “You hang out with Ace mostly. Sometimes, we play games together or talk, but other times, Ace asks me to leave you two alone. And I don’t wanna know _what_ you two are doing.”

Sanji’s cheeks went pink, but he tried to hide it by turning around and grabbing other items. When he faced Luffy again, he managed a neutral expression. “Right, you said we, um… You called me his… boyfriend,” he said. “Earlier.”

Luffy nodded. “You two make each other really happy! Plus, Ace has got a bottomless stomach like I do, so it’s a good fit!”

Sanji hummed.

Luffy tilted his head slightly. “Did I say something wrong?” he asked.

“Hm?” Once again, Sanji glanced up before looking back down. “No, not at all. It’s just, you know… That’s not really… possible here.”

“Oh. Right.” Luffy fidgeted with the strings on his shorts, trying not to think of what could’ve been, had he lived in this universe to begin with. “Would you have wanted to be with him?” he asked.

Sanji hesitated and tried to ignore the pounding in his chest. “I…” He slumped a bit. “It had... crossed my mind, yes,” he said. “To be honest, you’re the first person I’ve ever said that to.”

“Why didn’t you tell anyone?” Luffy asked.

Sanji shrugged and then continued to work. “I’m not really sure,” he said. “And it’s too late now, anyway. It’s not worth bringing up, especially with the hell you probably went through. No one wants to hear me mope about this shit.” He shook his head. “Sorry, this wasn’t supposed to be all about me.”

Luffy frowned. “Well, I do wanna hear about you!” he said. “What’s in the past is done, but I’m sure you have plans for the future, right? Tell me about your goals!”

Sanji was a bit relieved with the subject change, and he managed a smile as he thought. “There’s this place called the All Blue in the Grand Line…”

* * *

Ace held the hug for a bit longer before he pulled away and ruffled Luffy’s hair. “Why don’t you keep eatin’ what Sanji brought,” he said. “I think that’s enough sappiness for one day, huh?”

“Hell yeah, I’m ready to have more!” Luffy said, and went right back to practically inhaling his food. His mouth was still full as he continued. “Could use something to drink, though!”

Ace opened his mouth and began to stand, but froze in place when Luffy reeled his arm back and threw his hand towards the fridge. His arm stretched, like it was made of rubber, all the way until he could grab the door handle and pull it open. His other hand followed the same path to grab the water jug. Once he had a good grip, he let his arms snap back to where he was sitting, and then resumed like nothing out of the ordinary had happened.

Ace and Sanji exchanged a glance. What the _fuck_ had just happened?

Luffy didn’t look up, too distracted by the meal Sanji had kindly provided. It was nearly done, and the faster he ate, the more his cheeks puffed up and stretched. He managed to finish the whole tray and gulp down a good amount of water before he noticed Ace and Sanji looking at him with a baffled expression.

“...What?”

Ace blinked. “You, uh…” He looked at Sanji again, who gave a nod in confirmation, before he looked back at Luffy’s arms. “You stretched.”

Luffy looked down at his arms, then back up at the other two, and laughed. “Oh! Yeah! I do that sometimes!”

“You… do that… sometimes?” Ace asked slowly, as if trying to make sure he’d heard that right.

Luffy nodded. “Yup! I ate the gum-gum fruit!” he said. “Did I not mention that?”

Ace and Sanji shook their heads.

“Back home, there are these things called devil fruits,” Luffy explained. “When you eat them, they give you powers. I have the same abilities as rubber!”

“That’s… kind of cool, but also terrifying,” Sanji said. “So you’re just really stretchy forever now?”

“That’s right!”

“Huh.” Sanji crossed his arms, trying to decide how he felt about that. “Well… I was convinced before, but now this just solidifies it. You’re definitely from another universe.”

Ace reached over to poke Luffy before gently pulling on his skin to make it stretch. Then, he let it go, and it snapped back into place. “Did I have a… fruit power?”

“You did,” Luffy said. “You ate the flame-flame fruit. You could turn into fire!”

“Oh, he does that now,” Sanji said with a chuckle. “He’s naturally warm all the time. It’s really good for the winter.”

Ace giggled. “It’s kinda cool that there are some parallels goin’ on,” he said. “I don’t think our Luffy can stretch like that, though.”

“What about me?” Sanji asked Luffy. “Did I eat one of those devil fruits?”

Luffy shook his head. “Nah. But you’re a really good fighter without it!” he said. “You use your legs. Something about not wanting to use your hands because you’re a chef? I don’t know, but your kicks are really strong!”

Sanji had a cocky smile on his face when he learned that information. “Oh, so I’m just naturally powerful, then.” He gave Ace’s arm a nudge. 

“I bet I’m also naturally powerful, but the flames help me kick more ass,” Ace said, and stuck his tongue out to Sanji.

Luffy laughed. “It doesn’t matter, because _I’m_ the strongest anyway!” he said. “Devil fruit or not, I could kick both of your asses!” This made Ace and Sanji laugh as well.

“Are you sure you don’t need to see a doctor or somethin’?” Ace asked. “I don’t wanna get too many people involved with this… situation, but I know a doctor who’d be really interested in learning about your ability. Loves learnin’ about the body.”

“I know a few doctors!” Luffy said. “So maybe I’m familiar with them already! What’s their name?”

“Law Trafalgar,” Ace said. “He lives next door, actually. He can be a real grump, but he’s a sweetheart once you get to know him.

“You honestly should’ve started with asking a doctor about this,” Sanji said.

“Wait, there’s a Traffy in this world, too??” Luffy asked, perking up with excitement. “He was one of the people who helped me when I had shut down.”

Ace smiled. “I can invite him over tomorrow,” he said. “I’m… assumin’ you’re gonna be here for a bit.”

Luffy nodded. “I don’t really have a solution for this or know how the swap powers work, so I’m relying on my crew at the moment.”

“Maybe it’ll give you a chance to meet all of your friends as we know them,” Ace said. “That’d be cool, right?”

“Really cool!”

“Didn’t you say you didn’t want to get a ton of people involved in this?” Sanji asked, eyebrow raised.

Ace paused. Right. “Well… what am I supposed to do, forbid him from talkin’ to people?” he asked. “We can trust our friends, right?”

“I guess so,” Sanji said. “If anyone doesn’t believe us, all we’d have to do is stretch Luffy’s arm.”

Ace chuckled. “There we go. We’ve got a plan.” He grabbed the empty tray and stood up so he could wash it in the sink. He usually did when Sanji brought over food, since it seemed like the respectful thing to do. “Luf, where did you… even come from, anyway? Did you just appear in the house?” 

“Yeah, I was in some pirate room,” Luffy said. “And then I walked to the kitchen.”

“Oh, that’s your room,” Ace said, glancing over his shoulder. “That must’ve been where our Luffy was hangin’ out. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable? It’s where you’ll be sleepin’ tonight, so I think it’d be a good idea to at least get familiar with it. The bathroom’s close by, too.”

Luffy nodded and stood. “Alright. Thank you,” he said. “You, too, Sanji. That food was just as good as you make it back home!”

Sanji smiled. “That’s good to hear,” he said. “I’d love to chat with pirate Sanji. Maybe we could swap recipes.”

“Maybe!” Luffy said before he took off for the pirate bedroom.

Once Luffy was gone, Ace dried the tray and walked back over to Sanji. “I’d like to meet pirate Sanji, too,” he said, a playful smile on his face. It made Sanji roll his eyes and giggle.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pirate Luffy makes himself at home in the modern world, while pirate Zoro asks about his other self.

Luffy made it back to the bedroom and looked around. Even though he’d seen some parts of it already when he first landed there, he didn’t notice all of the smaller details. He walked over to the nightstand. Along with an alarm clock and various miscellaneous items, there was a picture frame displaying a picture of Ace and a boy who looked almost exactly like himself. He assumed that was the Luffy that lived here. The only difference between the two was the lack of a straw hat, really. Even the scar on their faces was the same. He wondered if the reason for it was also the same, and if Shanks was as important in this Luffy’s life as he was back in the pirate world.

To his surprise, the picture slid to the left to reveal a new picture - he didn’t know picture frames could _do_ that, but he assumed it was normal in this world. The new picture had Luffy again, this time with two other faces he recognized: Nami and Usopp. Of course, like everyone else, there was some variation. Nami’s hair was still short, perhaps even shorter, and was shaved on one side. Usopp didn’t have a long nose, but still wore an anxiously confident smile. 

As if on cue, something buzzed. It was one of the strange devices he’d seen before and just recently learned was a cell phone. Like a transponder snail. The screen lit up, and there was text inside of a box.

Nami: hey! u 2 up 4 gaming 2nite?

Luffy raised his eyebrows. The way the sentence was written was a little confusing to him, but he was able to decode it. He wasn’t sure what kind of game this Nami was used to. Were they going to get some treasure? Go shopping with the large sum of money they had ripped off of someone who deserved it (or even a poor soul)? Before he could figure out how to respond to the message, the screen went black again. It wasn’t too long, though, before another box with text showed up.

Usopp: hell yeah i am! i can be ready at 8 if thats good for you guys

Nami: yup!   
Nami: wbu luffy?

Luffy continued to read as the messages popped up, and then his eyes went wide when he realized they wanted an answer from him. Well… not _him_ him, but they didn’t know what was going on. Tentatively, he picked up the device and turned it around in his hands, trying to find out how to use it. He’d seen Ace touching the screen, and as soon as he tried, it was too late. The screen had gone black again.

He huffed. What was he supposed to do now? Even if he did figure it out, did Ace want him to divulge all of this information? Maybe it was best to ask.

Now with the addition of the cell phone, he walked back downstairs and found Ace and Sanji on the couch. They were watching the bigger screen on the wall, Ace with his arm over Sanji’s shoulders.

Ace turned his head when he heard footsteps, and offered a smile to Luffy. “Everythin’ okay?” he asked, and Sanji grabbed the remote to turn the volume down before he also looked up.

Luffy made his way over to the two and offered the phone. “I got… messages from Nami and Usopp, but I don’t know how to use this,” he said. “And I don’t know if it’s a good idea anyway ‘cause I’m not the Luffy they know.”

Ace took the phone and unlocked it to read the texts. He didn’t like doing this normally, but… well. This wasn’t a normal situation. He did his best to ignore any of the previous conversation so as not to invade his Luffy’s privacy. “Yeah, I don’t think it’s a good idea to have you interactin’ with them yet,” he said. “I’m gonna message them pretendin’ to be you, and I can make up an excuse to buy us time.” He looked up at Luffy again. “I do think it’d be cool for you to meet them, but maybe give it a day or two, after you meet Law. Okay?”

Luffy nodded. “Okay,” he said. “I can find something else to do.” He looked up at the big screen. “There’s one of those in that bedroom, isn’t there?”

Ace smiled. “That’s right. You want me to help you set it up? I can put on some cookin’ shows. Those are Sanji’s favorite, y’know.” Sanji grumbled.

“That sounds good!” Luffy said.

Ace put the phone down on the coffee table, gave Sanji’s arm a pat, and then got up to lead Luffy back to the bedroom to help with the TV. Surprisingly, it kept Luffy busy for hours - it helped that Sanji brought in food occasionally for him to munch on. However, after a while, he yawned and called for Ace to help him turn off the screen. Ace usually gave Luffy a kiss on the forehead before bed, but he wasn’t sure if that’d be weird to this Luffy, so he instead showed him where the pajamas were and offered him a new toothbrush so he could brush his teeth. Once he was back in the bed, it didn’t take him too long to fall asleep, since the excitement from the new environment was enough to tucker him out.

* * *

Pirate Sanji had told Luffy all about the All Blue (a second time for him, but the first time for this Luffy), how it had fish from the North, South, East, and West Blues, and how it was an amazing place for chefs. He also told him about when he decided to join the crew, and by the time he was done, he was smiling brightly. It seemed to be contagious, because Luffy was smiling as well and was sitting at the edge of his seat.

Sanji set down the last plate of food, filling the table with lots to pick from and plenty of meat to chow down on. He wondered if this Luffy could eat as much and as quickly as his captain could, but with the lack of the rubbery body, he wasn’t sure if that was possible. Still, if he knew anything about Luffy, it was that he had a bottomless stomach no matter what.

“I’m gonna call in the others, but feel free to start grabbing whatever you’d like,” Sanji said, and made his way back out onto the deck.

Luffy looked over at the food and practically started to drool. Everything looked so _good,_ but he was taught to wait. Back home, way before he lived in his current house, he and Ace learned some manners from Makino. It didn’t stop him from being very excited about food, but at the very least, he could control himself enough to wait until everyone else was sitting down at the table before he actually started to take anything.

One by one, the rest of the crew started filing into the kitchen after Sanji. A couple were having conversations, but they shut up at the sight of Luffy.

The boy they’d expected to have already eaten most of the food was sitting patiently at the table with a smile. However, it faded a bit when he saw the looks on everyone’s faces.

“What?”

“Nothin’, it’s just…” Franky chuckled and shook his head. “Our captain usually digs in without us, but you’re waitin’ for us to sit down.” He took his seat next to Robin, and soon, everyone was sitting. “You don’t have to wait, it’s okay.”

Luffy shook his head. “No, that’s fine! I’m a guest here, and I want to be on my best behavior!” he said. He glanced around before starting to pile food onto his plate.

“Honestly, if you didn’t look identical to our captain, we would’ve doubted that you’re Luffy,” Usopp said. “You’re somehow the same, yet different. It makes me wonder what I’m like over where you’re from. I bet I’m really strong!”

Luffy perked up. “Oh, definitely! I talk to you and Nami almost everyday!” he said, mouth stuffed with food. One of the manners he chose to ignore: don’t talk with your mouth full. “We play this pirate game together! We’re so close to winning the ultimate treasure because we’re so strong!”

Usopp seemed satisfied with that answer, and Nami raised her eyebrows. “It kinda sounds like what _we’re_ doing here,” she said. “Besides achieving our dreams, we’re aiming to get the One Piece.”

“Wooooah, that’s awesome!!” Luffy said, finally without any food in his mouth. “What exactly… _is_ the One Piece? One piece of what? Are you all gonna share?”

That earned a laugh from everyone, and Robin spoke up to explain.

“We’re not really sure what it is, actually,” she said. “Just that it was a treasure left behind by Gol D. Roger, who was the previous Pirate King.” She paused. “And Ace’s biological father.”

Luffy nearly choked on his food before his eyes shot up at Robin. “Ace’s dad was the Pirate King?! Oh, I’ll never hear the end of that if I tell Ace!” he said with a laugh. “He’d probably brag about it all the time!”

Robin smiled, though she wasn’t sure if bragging about that kind of thing here would’ve been in Ace’s interest. Still, she didn’t want to remind Luffy that it was the reason for Ace’s death. “I’m sure he would,” she said.

Silence fell upon the room, save for the occasional clinking of forks against plates. Everyone was just happy to finally enjoy a nice meal from their favorite cook, and even though they had a lot of catching up to do, it felt strange when they had a new Luffy. Sure, everyone else was ‘new’ in a sense, but this was on a whole other level.

“So, what about the rest of us?” Zoro asked. “You gave the shitty cook a whole lesson on himself, apparently, and only really gave us an introduction to our other selves.”

Luffy raised his eyebrows. “Why did you call him a shitty cook?” he asked. “I think his food is good!”

“Yeah, marimo, you seem to like my cooking,” Sanji chimed in. “Maybe you should be a little more nice to me.”

“Shut up! I’m as nice to you as you deserve,” Zoro growled, and his expression softened when he looked back at Luffy. “It’s just my nickname for him. But really, are you gonna go into detail for all of us?”

Luffy glanced between Zoro and Sanji, and wondered if the two would get into arguments back home, had they interacted more. “I could!” he said. “Like I’ve said before, I don’t recognize a couple of you, so I won’t have much to say about that. But I could tell everyone else about their other versions!”

Zoro nodded. “You mentioned I work at a… where again?”

“Franky owns a car shop,” Luffy said, and quickly corrected himself when that earned a few confused stares. “Uh, a place to fix vehicles! You’re one of the workers, and Franky’s your boss!”

“Alright! That sounds super!” Franky said, clearly excited about that idea. “What’s the place called?”

“It’s just called Franky’s, and you’re always talking about how super it is,” Luffy said with a laugh. He looked back at Zoro. “I don’t know that much about you, though. I only see you when I visit there. Back home, you seem really nice!”

“See? You don’t seem nice here,” Sanji said.

Zoro ignored Sanji this time, and Luffy interjected with, “You seem really nice here, too! I just meant that’s all I know about you!”

Zoro flashed his signature smirk. “I get you. I never would’ve thought another version of me would be working on vehicles,” he said. “You wouldn’t happen to know if I own any swords, would you?”

Luffy hummed. “I’m not sure,” he said. “Oh! But you do have a tattoo of a sword, right along your forearm!” He lifted his own arm to point exactly where. “It’s really cool! So maybe you do own swords! You at least like them!”

“Huh.” Zoro leaned forward a bit. “I’m gonna become the world’s greatest swordsman.”

Luffy’s jaw dropped. “That’s so cool! I’d love to see your sword in action some time!”

“Swords,” Zoro corrected.

“Swords?”

“I use three-sword style,” Zoro bragged. “One in each hand, one between my teeth. Three swords.”

If Luffy’s jaw could drop any lower, it would. “Okay, I _definitely_ have to see you use your swords!” he said. “And when I get back, I’m gonna talk to the Zoro there and see if he has three swords.”

Zoro chuckled. “I’d say get back to me on that, but I’m not sure if that’d be possible,” he said. “I’ll just pretend he does, because if he’s me, then I wouldn’t expect anything less of him.”

“I wish I could watch you become the world’s greatest swordsman!” Luffy said. “At least one version of me could experience that!” He looked around the room, beaming. “I wanna learn about everyone’s dream. Sanji told me his, and now I just heard Zoro’s! Maybe I can tell you more about what I know about you if I haven’t already!”

Everyone agreed.

“Hell yeah! Who’s up first?”


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Modern Luffy tells the rest of the crew about their alternate selves, while pirate Luffy gets a doctor visitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

>  _Hello!_  
>  It's been a little bit. I'd been pretty busy with other fics I wanted to get out there, but I'm definitely not giving up on this one!! I figured it'd be nice to update this one more time in 2020!
> 
> I really appreciate all of the support I've been getting on this! It's always so nice to read what you all have to say. 💛💛 Let me know what you think, and feel free to come say hi to me on my [writing blog](https://bajillianwrites.tumblr.com/)! I hope you all have a happy and healthy new year!

“Why don’t we go in order around the table?” Franky suggested. “Which would make Nami next, if you have more to say about her!”

“I do!” Luffy said, and looked over at Nami. “I could talk about you and Usopp together, if that’s okay. I met you both at the same time, and you’re sitting next to each other anyway.”

Nami and Usopp nodded, looking excited to hear about themselves.

“I met you guys when I started school,” Luffy began. “We were in the same class together! I remember you two hanging out on the playground during recess. Nami was trying to help you, Usopp, ‘cause you were crying from falling and scraping your knee. I got the teacher for you, and we’ve been friends ever since!”

Usopp crossed his arms. “Are you sure that’s me? I would never cry!”

Nami chuckled and gave Usopp a pat on the shoulder. Sure, buddy. “That sounds adorable.”

Luffy smiled. “And then me and Ace moved into the house we live in now, and we ended up in the same neighborhood as you guys!” he said. “So it was easier for us to hang out!”

“I guess you could say we’re always hanging out together over here,” Usopp said. “At least, if hanging out meant going to scary, dangerous places where we inevitably have to fight some bad guys. ...Not that I mind at all! I’m gonna be a brave warrior of the sea!”

Luffy laughed, but nodded. “I bet you will be! My Usopp’s just like you, always acting tough.”

“Hey! I’m not acting, I _am_ tough!”

Nami smiled. “I’m gonna draw a map of the whole world,” she said. “Does that line up with how I am back in your world?”

“Hm…” Luffy thought about that, and then nodded again. “We have to fill out a map in the game that we play, and you’re always nagging us about getting every location and landmark,” he said. “But without you, we’d be lost!”

“That’s our Nami!” Sanji chimed in, hearts popping out of his eyes. “The best and prettiest navigator to ever exist!”

Luffy smiled, but it was still… strange to hear Sanji giving Nami and Robin extra attention. He was used to the cook fawning over girls, sure. Though it was different here. Back home, Robin was Franky’s wife and Nami seemed much younger. He hadn’t even considered that the people he knew here might’ve been a different age than the versions he knew before.

It was a lot to think about, so he decided to focus on telling the rest of the crew about their alternate selves. He told Franky more about the car shop he owned, and that both were cyborgs of some kind - if you counted Franky’s prosthetic arm that he’d built himself. Franky’s cheeks went pink when he was reminded that he was married to Robin, who worked as an archaeologist, in another world. In return, Franky and Robin told Luffy about their dreams of making a dream ship that could travel the world and discovering the Rio Poneglyph respectively.

When Luffy looked at Chopper and Brook, he wasn’t sure what to say.

“I don’t think I know either of you back home,” he said. “Why don’t you tell me about yourselves instead?”

“You already know I’m a doctor,” Chopper said. “You don’t have any other doctor friends? I highly doubt there are talking reindeers in your world if you were so surprised. If it helps, my dream is to be able to cure anything!”

“That does help, actually! There’s this kid who visits Traffy sometimes who’s constantly trying to learn more about being a doctor and always talks about wanting to help everyone.” Luffy shrugged. “His name’s Tony, though.”

“That’s my name!!”

Luffy blinked. “I thought your name was Chopper.”

“That’s _part_ of my name. Tony Tony Chopper!” The little reindeer bounced in his seat. “This is so cool!! I exist in the other world! And we’re the same! Oh man, I hope both of us can achieve our goals!”

“Me too!” Luffy let out a laugh and then turned to Brook. “Maybe you exist, too, just with another name!”

Brook hummed. “The only other name I’ve gone by is Soul King--”

“You’re _the_ Soul King?!” Luffy exclaimed, his hands slamming excitedly down onto the table. “That super funky singer who plays the guitar?”

Everyone looked at Brook, who raised his brow bones. “I’m… Soul King in your world? Full-time?”

Luffy nodded. “Yeah! You’re not a skeleton, though, so that’s why I didn’t recognize you! But you’ve got the same hair!”

“Yohohoho! That’s wonderful news!” Brook said. He gave his afro a little pat. “I’ll have you know I performed as Soul King for a while pretty recently. Right up until you got back.”

“Woah! You mean I just missed it?”

“I’m afraid so.” Brook smiled. “Perhaps I could play you something now, if everyone is okay with that.”

The others gave an enthusiastic ‘yes’ and Luffy cheered. “That would be awesome!”

“You got it,” Brook said as he stood. “One moment while I grab my guitar.”

* * *

When Luffy woke up, he was slightly disoriented. Brief panic about being in an unfamiliar territory quickly settled when he remembered all of the events of yesterday. Right. He was safe. 

He sat up at the sound of a new voice down the hall. It was familiar enough, and though it was muffled, Luffy could connect it to a certain doctor he knew back home. The voice had a softness to it and was mostly deadpan, but it was quickly overpowered by Ace’s loud laugh.

They sounded like they were having fun, and Luffy didn’t want to miss out. He grabbed his straw hat before he rushed out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and to the living room. He nearly knocked over both men when his excited sprint was harder to stop than he had anticipated.

“Traffy!”

It was, in fact, Law. He looked pretty similar to pirate Law, wearing a yellow hoodie, skinny jeans, and bags under his eyes. He even had the ‘DEATH’ tattoos across his fingers. The only thing that was missing was his signature hat, which was replaced with lightly tousled hair.

Luffy greeted him with a tight hug - he hadn’t gotten to properly thank the Law back home for helping him, so he made it up with this Law.

Law held his arms up over Luffy’s shoulder and gave an awkward little pat to the enthusiastic boy’s head. “Hello, Luffy,” he said.

Luffy raised his eyebrows and looked up at Law. “Huh. You call me ‘Straw Hat’ back home,” he said, then smiled again. “I was beginning to think you didn’t know my name!”

Law chuckled and gently pushed Luffy off of him. “Right. Ace has told me about your… situation,” he said. “I don’t think I fully understand, but I suppose I don’t have to. You’re from another timeline, then? And you didn’t experience any injury during travel?”

“Nope! I got here safe and sound!” Luffy said. “I mean, I did wake up a little sore, but that’s only ‘cause someone punched me right before I got here!”

“Someone punched you?”

“Yeah! A nasty marine.”

“Did you start bleeding?”

Ace snickered. “Law, he’s fine. I didn’t call you here to start diagnosin’ his injuries,” he said. “There somethin’... new I think you should witness.”

Law raised an eyebrow. “What is it?”

“Watch,” Ace said before he walked across the room and held a hand up. “Hey, Luffy. Gimme a high-five.”

At first, Law wasn’t sure why Ace wanted to show him Luffy’s high-five. Was the point of his visit just a waste of his time? Or did Ace have some ulterior motive?

Any questions Law had were quickly forgotten when Luffy threw his arm towards Ace and it stretched like rubber to complete the high-five. Just as easily, it snapped away and went right back to looking like a normal arm.

“...Oh.” Law blinked. “Huh. That’s… certainly new.” He grabbed Luffy’s wrist and walked over to where Ace was, making Luffy’s arm stretch once again. “This doesn’t hurt?”

Luffy shook his head. “Nope!”

“Interesting. How far does it stretch?” Law didn’t wait for an answer before he started pulling Luffy’s arm again. The more he pulled, the more it coiled on the ground like rope. It almost seemed to be never-ending.

Luffy laughed, apparently unbothered by the sight before him. Ace, on the other hand, was a mix of surprised and horrified. 

“How far _does_ it stretch?” Ace asked. “Normal rubber has a limit, doesn’t it?”

“It doesn’t go on forever!” Luffy answered. “It’s actually-- woah!” One more pull from Law made Luffy stumble forward, but he was able to steady himself right away.

Law stopped pulling and glanced down at the pile of arm. “I suppose that’s how far it stretches.”

“Yeah! And if you let go, it’ll come right back and look normal again!”

“...You want me to… let your arm fly back at you?”

“Yup!”

“You do know how rubber works, right?”

“Uh huh!”

“And you want me to risk making you hit yourself in the face?”

“Traffy, I’ll be fine!”

Law glanced at Ace. “You’re okay with this?”

Ace shrugged. “I’m gonna be honest, I dunno know his powers work,” he said. “Maybe he’s got it under control.”

Law wasn’t sure about that. If this Luffy was like the one who lived in this universe, he tended to act on impulse rather than really think about the situation. ...Witnessing Luffy smack himself square in the face sounded hilarious, though. “Alright. If you say so.” He looked back at Luffy before letting the arm go.

Luffy, surprisingly, was able to snap his arm back without hurting himself. “See? I did it!”

“Hm.” Law crossed his arms and smirked. “Impressive. Have you practiced controlling that?”

Luffy nodded. “It took some getting used to, but now I’m a pro at it!” he said. “The Traffy I know back home has powers, too! I bet he needed to get used to those!”

Ace gently ushered the two to the couch, and they continued to talk as they sat down.

“Oh, I have powers, too?” Law asked, looking even more interested. “How do you get these powers?”

“From devil fruits! Each power can be used by one person only, so they’re all different! You ate the op-op fruit!” Luffy said. “Can you guess what kind of power you’d get from that?”

Law raised his eyebrows. “Are they named after their powers? In that case, I would have to guess that it’s short for operating.” He paused. “Am I still a surgeon in your world?”

“Yeah! You can, like… cut people without even hurting them! And you can switch things!”

“Didn’t _you_ get switched with our Luffy?” Ace interjected. “I thought you said it’s one power per person.”

“Nah, that’s different! That guy’s only power is swapping things!” Luffy said. “Traffy uses _shambles.”_

Law chuckled. “Shambles?”

Luffy nodded before standing up into a pose. He scowled and held his hand out, palm facing down. “Room.” He turned his hand, pointing his index finger, middle finger, and thumb. “Shambles.”

“Is that really how I sound?”

Luffy’s frown turned into a smile. “Absolutely!” He sat back down, but was bouncing in his seat. “You helped us defeat some nasty marines with your powers!”

“That’s… really cool, actually,” Law said. “Do I operate on people like that, or do I keep my powers out of the medical space? Do I even work at a hospital?”

“You have an infirmary in your submarine,” Luffy said. “I woke up there. Not sure if you used your powers, though. I’d have to ask your crew about that one.”

“My crew?”

Luffy nodded once again. “Your pirate crew! You’re not just the doctor, you’re the captain of the Heart Pirates!”

“Heart Pirates,” Law echoed. It made sense. Not only were hearts part of his job, he did have a big interest in them for more personal reasons. But he didn’t need to get into that. “Who’s part of my crew? Are you on it?”

“Nah, I’m captain of my own crew!” Luffy looked proud of that one. “You’ve got a penguin-themed guy and another dude with reddish-brown hair and a polar bear and--”

“A polar bear?”

“Yeah! What’s wrong with polar bears?”

Law shook his head. “Nothing wrong with polar bears. I just don’t see how it’s practical to have one on a pirate crew. Sounds cute.” He started thinking. These crew members sounded familiar. “Those three you mentioned… they sound like my best friends. Penguin, Shachi, and Bepo. Bepo only _likes_ polar bears, though. He’s human otherwise.”

“That’s them!” Luffy said. “I think everyone back home also exists here!”

Law smiled. “That’s good to know. I hope they’re doing well.”

“Seems fittin’ that you’d be the captain of your friends,” Ace said with a chuckle. “I guess you bein’ bossy exists in every timeline.”

Law gave a gentle smack to Ace’s arm. “I bet you’re just as obnoxious in the pirate timeline as you are in this one.”

The room went quiet.

Law glanced between the two, and Ace shook his head to signal him to stop talking. “...What?”

“I think we should… Talk about somethin’ else,” Ace said. 

“No, he’s right.” Luffy laughed. “You were pretty obnoxious!”

Ace scoffed, but he couldn’t help smiling. At least Luffy seemed to be okay. “Oh yeah? The same’s true for you, kiddo,” he said, laughing along. 

“Nuh uh!”

“Are too!”

Ace and Luffy continued to go back and forth. Law was a little confused, but he decided to just go along with the joke. It was amusing to watch, after all.


End file.
